Disclaimer: I am merely playing with other people's creations, I don't own the game/book/anime/TV-show I am borrowing from, nor am I making any money with this. I am writing for fun and practice, as fan-fiction to be shared with others if I feel like it.
Chapter 1: Deal with the Devil
It was a few minutes to midnight, and Harry Potter was carefully checking that all his preparations were in order. The summoning circle might not be immaculate in its quality, but it was well made and he had taken a lot of time to make sure that the details within it were exactly right. With everything he had read, he knew that the chances were that he would die if he got this wrong, and even if he succeeded it would be a hollow victory, but at the same time he considered how things were and thought it would hardly matter.
Abandoned by his friends by the orders of Albus Dumbledore once more, and imprisoned with his relatives at the Privet Drive for a yet another year of powering the wards that protected his so-called relatives, he thought contemptuously at his jailers. The Order members were making sure he could not escape, but he was not certain they would come to his aid even if the Dursleys had chosen to attack him. Thankfully they seemed content with just having him prepare their meals and retreat to his room for most part.
Sirius' death had been the final nail in the coffin. Harry would not return to his fair-weather friends who took the word of an ancient old meddler over his own. He would not place his trust in the hands of people who had been losing the last war before a miracle baby put a stop into the madman's crusade for purity. He would not entrust his fate to the machinations of fools that would fashion him into a weapon with singular purpose, to be disposed of after he no longer served a purpose.
Instead, Harry Potter had taken the dark path. His magic had violently snapped at the Headmaster's office, but it had also burnt over uncountable number of charms and bonds, shattering them and the illusions that the headmaster was someone he could respect. Too many things fell in place, too many 'forgotten' incidents surfaced once more, and too many truths came out for him to ever be willing to play a role in the grand play the old man had set up with him dancing as a puppet by the old man's strings.
The circle was prepared, and it would be days before Moody would return on guard duty. He was well aware of who was on duty when, just visiting the backyard usually answered that question as they closed in on him to ensure he was not planning to run away. The old man seemed content to let him stew in his anger alone, just forbidding his former friends from messaging him.
Thankfully the wizards seemed completely lacking in common sense at times. He had asked Dobby to join him at his room at Privet Drive before the end of the year, and soon learned that Dobby had been told by the headmaster that Harry had forbid Dobby from entering his home ever again. That lie had made Dobby shocked, and even taught Harry a few new curse-words to use on the 'professor long-whiskers' and his company. With Dobby's aid, a carefully drafted note to the goblin bankers, and elf-popping of a small knife to his room followed by a new pop back with the bloodied knife had resulted in All of the Potter accounts being sealed for the time being, investigation started, and a healthy number of galleons made immediately available in the meanwhile for Harry to carry on with his plan.
Dobby spent a fair bit of time then on expanding and cleaning Harry's room, after properly binding himself into Harry's service of course, and acquiring to Harry all the necessary materials he needed. Hiding the effects of Dobby's magic from the others took some work, but only Mad-eye Moody might have revealed the changes and it seemed the old man was more amused about Harry getting one over the headmaster than concerned. Since Moody didn't seem to care about Harry studying at the summer, he hadn't bothered to hide the bit of preparations, though he had made sure to only study certain texts when Moody was not on duty.
Tonight it would happen, he told himself grimly. Looking at a goblet of fine wine, and another next to it presently empty, alongside his wand and a small sharp knife, he felt a bit of dread run through him but silently began his chant. Kneeled before the ritual circle wearing nothing, his room was silenced by elf-magic so that the noise would not draw attention. He felt the magic begin to thicken in the air, and he felt the presence starting to reach out across the room from the circle.
His chant kept up as he held the glass of wine quietly, kissing its rim and lowering it down before the ritual circle in another, much smaller circle, before he lifted the other glass and the dagger. Not interrupting his chant, he drew the knife on his hand and winced, but kept talking. Pouring a bit of blood from his hand he felt the wound sting, but his palm was healing quickly. He dared not open a vein in a fashion the texts suggested, but it was the act of spilled blood that was called for, not the details of exactly how that mattered. The knife burnt away the blood upon it, and the wound was closing neatly towards the end of the chant.
As he reached the last words, he set the glass with his blood in it to rest within the third and the last circle, the two smaller circles seeming to gain a glow of their own as the main circle glowed, the runes lighting up as power run through him and swirled around him. He was calling out to the distance, and invoking the names in the second piece of the chant, as a smaller circle appeared within the summoning circle and began the process of materialization.
Whatever form Harry Potter might have expected a devil to take, it was certainly not this. The blood crimson hair, the elegant cheekbones of a noble lady, the rosy lips lifted in a small smirk of amusement, the eyes that seemed to burn with both power and will, and the outfit that made him think of a schoolgirl had the young man struggle to keep his jaw from falling open. This woman, this devil of the Gremory family, eyed both him and the circle curiously, before speaking up in Queen's English.
"How Quint, I have not been summoned in the old ways before, I thought they were made obsolete by the fliers a long time ago." She remarked this with a smile on her lips but regarded the young man seated before her with amusement. She felt the power within the green-eyed youth, the strong, firm body of a warrior and the scars that decorated it. The one on the youth's forehead caught her interest but it was hardly the largest one.
"I am Rias Gremory, and I have answered your summons as dictated by the old accord. Given I am speaking to you in British English, you are a fair way away from my usual grounds but it doesn't matter too much. Now, what is your wish?" She smiled amusedly as she watched the young man relax slightly as she had stopped examining the circle. She knew the circle would contain her within it till their deal was made, or until she was banished, or until the dawn's first light reached into the circle to banish her back home, whichever came first.
"I am Harry Potter, and I am afraid I do not know of the fliers you are speaking of but I am glad that the summoning worked." He tried to explain the circumstances slightly, then pausing to draw a breath and try and think on how to word his wish. She didn't look malicious by any means but he wasn't certain she wouldn't twist it in any manner she could. Perhaps making sure his wish was possible at all first would be the best option.
"I have been hunted by a dark wizard ever since I was born. A prophecy was made that I would be the downfall of this wizard, and he attacked my home when I was but a year old. He killed my parents, and then attempted to kill me, but his spell somehow backfired and killed him instead. Since then, he has attempted to return several times and fought me and my former friends. A year ago he managed to regain his body, and when I tried to warn the rest of the people they did not listen." He held up his hand, showing the words 'I must tell no lies' carved into the back of it.
"Rather, they ridiculed me and claimed I was a glory-seeking brat and a delusional madman, that I was behind the murder of a fellow student rather than the dark wizard that was supposed to have been dead for more than a decade. They didn't want to even entertain the idea it could be true, in fact, the minister of magic said it could not be true." Shaking his head silently at the thought, he let out a long sigh once more before looking at her seriously.
"I have been lied to and manipulated for too long. My headmaster sent me here when I was but a child, to be neglected and broken into an obedient little puppet. I've seen through his manipulations finally, but the cost was too high. My godfather who spent a decade as a prisoner in the worst sort of Wizarding prison for a crime he did not commit lost his life earlier this year because the manipulations lead me into a trap that cost him his life and finally exposed the rest of the wizarding world to the truth, that the dark wizard is back."
He saw he held her attention so far, but she gestured for him to carry on to the end already, not seeming bored or annoyed but still managing to convey the message with the gesture and her expression she hoped he would not tarry on too long anymore. It was cordial enough, he thought to himself quietly, that he could respect it. Something he hadn't expected he'd feel about a devil.
"They are still not doing anything, but expecting me to do everything again and sacrifice myself to stop the man. No more. I've had it with this prophecy and this manipulation. I want to leave this life behind and take what is mine with me, to leave beyond the reach of the manipulative old man and the dark wizard as well as his bigoted minions. My dearest wish is to just get away from it all, still alive and safe, but if I can ask for it I would also wish for vengeance against both the old man that damned me to this living hell with my relatives and the trials I've been through, and revenge against the dark wizard that has been terrorizing these lands."
He watched her expression change to a slightly amused one on hearing him speak about leaving the place behind, but the talk about vengeance was met with a thoughtful look as she seemed to weigh something on her mind for a short while there. She finally leaned closer, gesturing at his forehead.
"Did the dark wizard that tried to kill you give that scar on your forehead to you? It contains a piece of his soul, which might help explain why he is still alive. If he has split his soul, all I need is a piece of that soul and I can destroy him. Taking it from you and destroying him would not take much effort, but it is a service that would cost a fair bit as there are not many that could do so." She said this seriously, smiling a little.
"I have an offer however. You want to leave all of this behind, and escape the clutches of the other man into a new life. I can see you are a warrior, your body carries the signs of it and your eyes hold the will, and I can sense the power emanating from you in this room all around us. I believe you would be a powerful man if you were given a chance. I can help you escape from here, and I can help you get vengeance on at least the dark wizard. I should be able to help you with the other old man as well if you accept my offer." Looking at him directly in the eyes, she saw him shiver slightly but not say anything as he listened.
"Swear yourself in my service as a servant, and I shall grant you a new life as a member of my peerage. " She saw the surprise on his face, and she smiled to him in a warm manner. "You will be treated well, you will have a chance to attend school elsewhere, learn about magic and the rest of the world, and you will not be mistreated. You will aid me in my pursuits and I shall aid you in your struggles, and I promise you I will be honest about things that take place."
The offer left Harry a bit shocked there. The fact she could free him of Voldemort meant a lot to him, but did he want to give up his soul for this? His muggle upbringing had him shiver at the thought but at the same time the magical texts he had read suggested to him that the Gremory were surprisingly honorable for devils certainly, and she had made it sound like he would not be harmed if he were to become hers.
He had thought of leaving with his things, going to Gringotts and getting an international portkey elsewhere, but he knew that Bumbledorf and his Order of the Roasted Rooster would be hot on his heels every step of the way. He would not know peace until he'd return to 'fulfill his fate', and the dark wizard would spread his terror from the ignorant wizarding world to the mundane world as well in time. Innocents would suffer, innocents that had not been part of his abusive treatment.
"If I were to accept, what would happen then?" Harry voiced his question a bit warily, watching her smile and nod her head approvingly at his wariness. It seemed to please her he wasn't rushing into things without checking. He had sought to hide his Slytherin tendencies, but the headmaster's obliviations and compulsions, as well as the 'carefully selected friend to guide him' as the headmaster seemed to think of Ronald Weasley had lead to him charging ahead in a fashion that the Dursleys had originally beaten out of him over the years previously.
"If you become a member of my peerage then your well-being is important to me. I will see to it that you will be safe, and when you aren't busy with tasks that I ask of you, what you do on your free time is your own call. Your possessions shall remain yours only, and you will have a chance to regain your freedom in time as you prove your worth and get promoted to a high class devil as well. Becoming a member of my peerage will make you a devil, and that means the old man will not have authority over you anymore no matter how he might try." She smirked a hint at this and then reached out till the barrier of the circle stopped her finger, but pointing a lot closer to his scar as she did so.
"As for the piece of the dark wizard's soul behind your scar, I can take that and use it to harm him and kill him. Souls are meant to be kept intact, losing parts of them means losing part of yourself, sanity and power included. The pieces of a soul seek to return together, but they cannot travel long before fading away once released from a container. I can take the piece, seal it to something else, and then use it to pull the rest of that damned soul to it, and banish it to torment. It will drive what remains of the man utterly insane, make his remaining lifetime a matter of days or hours, and leave him in absolute agony for the remaining time." She smiled in a manner that had a shiver run down Harry's naked back.
"Becoming a member of my peerage will not hurt, you will keep your powers, but you will be mine until such a time that you have earned the recognition and power to be classed as a high-class devil yourself as well. Once you do, you may seek your own servants and leave my service, or you may seek to stay if you find yourself enjoying my company. I cannot promise it will always be rosy and perfect, nothing is certain in life after all, but I can tell you this. You will not be neglected and lied to, you will not be used and then discarded. We Gremorys are known to be kind to our servants, and treat them well."
She smiled to him quietly, feeling the power pulsing through the room and running through the young wizard's form. Spending a bit of time teaching him to catch up with his mundane education should not be too hard, helping him get enrolled at Kuoh academy with false name and a bit older form wouldn't be too big of an issue, and she had a feeling he would get along fine with the rest of her peerage as well.
"I accept." Harry said and smiled, feeling the barrier fall away, releasing her from the circle as Harry lifted the glass of wine from its circle, sipping from it and presenting it to her. He had bound her with his blood, and the sharing of wine was to seal the promise both ways.
Smiling to him quietly, she nod her head and quietly wondered about the indirect kiss. He wasn't Japanese so it did not seem to bother him, and she wasn't concerned on such a small gesture, but she had a feeling that back in Japan a fair number of her classmates at Kuoh would be shocked to learn the gaijin she was about to introduce to them had already shared one with her.
End Chapter
A/N: Alright, this is a one-shot piece of Harry Potter/High School DxD story so far, I am considering making more than a one-shot out of it but I already have other tales to take care of first. Still, I am seriously considering it to be the next undertaking after I finish some of the ongoing stories though.
This would be most undoubtedly a Harry/Harem story, and a story where Issei would be present but not a member of Rias' peerage. I imagine it might even become, if it ended up long enough story and had enough following, a starting point for another story dealing with Harry as a high-class devil with a peerage of his own one day. Eh, hard to say for sure at this time and not really sure, a lot of ideas come to mind but some ideas grow stronger with time, while others fade away.
Either way, it would likely be a rather Slytherin Harry with a touch of Gryffindor Bravery (undaunted by the battles ahead), a fair bit of Hufflepuff loyalty (to his Peerage members), and a fair share of Ravenclaw intellect (catching up on all those lessons and gaining more from his new state of being a devil).
It would also probably be a rather OverPowered Harry for the HP-verse, but likely someone that still has a long way to go in the DxD-verse .